Birthday (Mis)Adventures
by grumpyheroine
Summary: It's Aphrodite's birthday, AKA Valentine's Day, and she's excited to celebrate, going around spreading love. But all the love goddess's fun is ruined when she gets captured. Fortunately, Athena notices her absence and comes to save her, with the aid of Poseidon and Apollo. One thing was for sure: Of all Aphrodite's 1000s of years, this is one birthday she was never going to forget.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Aphrodite's Birthday**

Athena looked around the empty council hall, frowning. "Where is everyone?" she wondered aloud.

There was a happy squeal from behind her, and Aphrodite sprinted in, hugging Athena. "Zeus gave everyone the day off, silly!" she replied.

Athena pushed the love goddess off of her. "Um... am I missing something? My father wouldn't randomly give us the day off..."

"It's not random! Don't you know what today is?"

"Monday?"

"No! Well, yes, but-do you know what _else_ today? What's the date?" Aphrodite was hopping up and down excitedly.

"February 14th, but... what's so special about it?" Athena had a nagging thought in the back of her mind. She should know what day it was. She was supposed to know everything. Oddly, her memory was failing her, and she couldn't figure out what it was...

Aphrodite waited, the happy smile on her face fading as Athena chewed her lip, deep in thought.

"It's MY BIRTHDAY! How could you forget?"

"Oh!" Athena shook her head, wondering how she could forget with Aphrodite going on and on about it for weeks. "Right. I knew that. I was just testing you."

"Of course you were," Aphrodite said happily. "Come on!"

"Isn't there something else today?"

"It's Aphrodite day!" Aphrodite replied. "Also known as Valentine's day, I guess."

"Valentine... a completely different person," Athena said.

"Yes, well... it's also my birthday!" Aphrodite grumbled. "And wait... how many times have we had this conversation?"

Athena sighed. "Ever since the first Valentine's day."

"Is it a coincidence?"

Athena rubbed her temple. She was getting the headache she always got when she talked to Aphrodite for too long. Aphrodite squealed and shrieked. A lot. And she _never_ stopped talking.

In fact, it was that very thing that snapped Athena out of her thoughts.

"...so you and Poseidon can spend the whole day together!" Aphrodite was saying.

"What?" Athena sputtered. Her cheeks felt hot. "Me and that Kelp Head? Ha ha! That's funny!" she laughed nervously. "Anyway, Aph, Happy birthday, go and pair people up and stuff, Eros is waiting outside for you... I'll be in my library." The wisdom goddess turned around to leave.

"Wait!" Aphrodite said. "It's the day of love! You are _not_ going to spend it with those dusty old books!"

"Dusty old-I _love_ my books," Athena replied sulkily.

"Not the kind of love I have planned for you today," Aphrodite replied smugly.

"No," was the response. "No, no, no, no. Not a chance. I took an oath. I'm not breaking it."

"You don't have to! You can just date Poseidon! Zeus finally let everyone take on the more modern rules, like divorce!"

"And this is important because..."

"Amphitrite is gone!"

Athena muttered something about stupid Barnacle Beard and his stuck up wife-sorry, _ex-_wife._  
_

Aphrodite grinned. "See? You're jealous!" She grabbed Athena's arm and flashed them off Mount Olympus to New York.

* * *

For Athena, the rest of the afternoon was spent avoiding Aphrodite, who was trying to pair her up with Poseidon. For some reason, though, she couldn't get back into Olympus. So as Aphrodite had the time of her life doing her love magic to other people who she thought would be cute to pair up. Whenever the two ran into each other, which was oddly often, Aphrodite would try to get Athena to come with her to find Poseidon.

Athena always fled, ducking out of Aphrodite's sight, through alleys, into buildings, anywhere to escape. For some reason, _Eternal __Maiden_ just didn't register with the love goddess.

Around noon-time, she found herself wandering into a favored cafe of hers. It had a whole wall full of books, so she could read while she ate.

She sat down at a table, going through the menu.

"Athena?"

She recognized that voice. With a sigh, she looked up, to meet a tan guy who looked to be around seventeen, with blond hair and blue eyes, and a grin that made you want to slap him.

"Apollo. What are you doing here?" Athena asked, frowning at her annoying half-brother.

"I came to get some breakfast," Apollo replied, giving her a sunny smile.

"And it had to be here? I mean... you don't even read," was the response.

"Uh... I _can_ read. But, what does that have to do with anything?" Apollo asked. "I mean, it's not like there's books here."

"Uh... Apollo... there's books right there." Athena gesture to the wall of books.

Apollo followed her gaze. "Oh, those are really books? I thought they were just decorations! Wait! I think I have a Haiku coming!"

"Oh no..." Athena buried her face in her hands.

Apollo grinned. _  
_

"_The sun shines from me__  
_

_I run into Athena_

_She's reading a book "_

Athena groaned. "Why don't you just go sit somewhere else?" she said.

"Nah." Apollo dropped into a chair across from her. "We never really hang out much anyway."

"I wonder why," Athena muttered.

Apollo just grinned.

The two of them were just finishing the meal, Athena was ready to dive headfirst into Tartarus to get away from Apollo, when the door to the cafe opened, and Apollo waved to the person who entered. Athena looked over her shoulder to see who was entering, and wondered if her day could get any worse.

Her millenia-long rival stepped inside, sea green eyes examining the room. His expression turned grumpy when he spotted her, and the two exchanged glares.

_Talk about Mr. Moody, _Athena thought.

Apollo finally convinced Poseidon to come to the table. He and Athena just glared at each other as Apollo chattered on about things neither of them even heard.

Finally, she stood up abruptly. "I should go," she said, giving up on trying to read her book, and she turned around and left before Apollo could say anything to stop her. Instead, he followed, starting a conversation with Poseidon, and so that Kelp Head decided to follow as well. At some point, Apollo dragged her into the conversation, and she and Poseidon started to fight. Just as usual.

The rest of the morning actually turned out to be rather entertaining. Apollo kept getting turned down by numerous girls, as did Poseidon as they tried to hit on girls they thought were pretty, much to Athena's amusement.

She also whacked Poseidon a couple of times when she thought he did something especially stupid (even for Poseidon), and the way Apollo kept calling her "sis", she began to feel very sorry for Artemis who was the usual victim of Apollo's terrible nicknames.

Athena also noticed that she didn't run into Aphrodite once, which, in a way, was a relief, but it made her suspicious, and a little concerned. That's when Aphrodite sent her an Iris Message. It only lasted for a few seconds, in which Aphrodite yelled, "Help, I-" and it was ended.

"Guys, did you just see that?" Athena asked Apollo and Poseidon. They both looked up at her.

"What?"

"Did you just see-oh, forget it. Apparently you didn't. Aphrodite's in trouble. We have to go help her."

Poseidon frowned. "She is?"

"Yes, you moron! Get me a rainbow with your water powers, I need to contact her again," Athena snapped. Poseidon rolled his eyes, but listened.

She pulled out a drachma and tossed it into the rainbow, asking for Aphrodite. Iris replied by telling her she couldn't contact Aphrodite.

"That does it, we have to find her," Athena insisted.

"But how?" Poseidon asked.

"Do we have time to find demigods?" Apollo added.

Athena looked thoughtful. "We'll see," she replied.

**ooc: This is chapter one! I hope you like it! Don't forget to review, and thank you until next time. As for my other two stories, well... I'll get back to them. I just happen to be obsessed with Greek Mythology at the moment.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again. Sorry it took so long to put this up. I have trouble getting motivated... :) Hopefully I'll be able to pick up the pace.**

**As opposed to the comment on my haiku... Oops. I guess I'm worse at writing Haikus than Apollo, if possible... :) But no worries! I learned how to write them, how many lines and syllables and such. Now they're just going to suck. But they'll be properly written. :D**

**Aside from my improperly written haiku, I hope you liked the last chapter! This one is going to get into the action more, now. And as for the Athena/Poseidon relationship, I'm probably not going to go into a romance with them. But then again, I might just do it. This isn't a romance story (not my department), but it is Aphrodite's favorite day to pair people up...**

**Anyway, chapter two!**

**CHAPTER TWO:**

Aphrodite was having the time of her life.

First, she had Eros shoot a couple of people, making them all fall in love. Then, she started doing some of her own love magic, bringing people together in the cutest ways. She spotted Zeus and Hera actually spending time together, and Hera looked less angry than usual. Aphrodite gave them an extra magical nudge, making sure Hera and Zeus were well in love today.

Athena was exhausting her, though. Every time she tried to talk to the wisdom goddess, she's somehow disappear. If Aphrodite didn't know better, she'd say Athena was _purposely _avoiding her. But that was ridiculous. Athena wouldn't do that.

Either way, aside from her Pothena attempts, as Aphrodite liked to call Poseidon and Athena (despite Athena's threats to send her to Tartarus when she called them that), everything else was going perfectly. It was an exhausting but satisfying morning; she'd already done so much. -And it was only 9:00 AM!

She stretched after checking her watch, and decided to go find Ares for a date. He'd offered to spend the day with her, but she'd told him she had to oversee other blooming romances, and wouldn't have much time. But they were going to meet for breakfast, maybe lunch, and definitely dinner. And perhaps they would spend some time together later in the night...

With that happy thought, Aphrodite skipped off towards the restaurant she and Ares were going to meet at. She took a shortcut through an alleyway.

As she moved along, hardly paying attention to the way, her mind wandered. Which is probably why she walked right into a trap without realizing it. The net sprang, reminding her of the time Hephaestus had caught her and Ares, and she yelled in surprise. She tried to get free, but could not.

After lots of struggling, she decided to call for help. She pulled out a drachma, and in some miraculous way, happened to have a rainbow sparkling in a puddle from melted snow. She tossed in the drachma, and said the first person to come to mind.

"Athena."

The tall, dark-haired goddess appeared, standing next to Apollo and Poseidon.

"Help!" Aphrodite yelled. Athena whirled around.

"Aphrodite? What's going on?" she asked.

Before Aphrodite could respond, the mist was cleared away by someone's hand waving through the image, and Aphrodite's only hope disappeared.

"Hello," said the man, stepping forward with a smirk.

* * *

"Why did we sneak into Hephaestus's workshop again?" Poseidon asked.

"To use his tracker," Athena replied, feeling quite cranky. "It's used all the time to track immortals down. Hmm..." She typed a few things, and a bunch of symbols popped up on the screen.

"What are _those_?" Apollo asked.

"..."

Athena and Poseidon turned to stare at him.

"Uh... numbers?" Athena said.

"Really? That's so cool! What do they do?" Apollo replied.

"Are... are you serious?" Athena asked.

"Well, duh. We can't all be geniuses like you."

"Even Percy Jackson can recognize numbers, and he's definitely not the brightest person."

"Hey!" Poseidon said. "He's not so dumb. He's like me!"

Athena raised an eyebrow. "Wow, in that case, his IQ level has gotten even lower than what I remember if it's the same as yours," she muttered. "Anyway, these should be the coordinates as to where Aphrodite is. Let me check a map and I'll tell you-"

"The middle of the Pacific," Poseidon said boredly. "I think it's on an island."

"How do you know that?" Apollo asked. Poseidon felt quite proud when he saw even Athena looked mildly impressed.

"My secret," the sea god said. It wasn't much of one, though. The island was in the pacific, and so it was natural Poseidon knew what was going on in his realm.

"Well, I guess we better head west then."

"Wait... isn't that against the rules?" Apollo asked.

"Since when do we follow rules?" Athena replied.

"Good point."

"Uh, if we get caught, we'll be in MAJOR trouble," Poseidon said. "Like, in trouble with the fates. We'll be breaking Ancient laws. Let's just get some demigods and go have coffee."

Athena scowled. She would have agreed with Poseidon if not for two problems: one, she would have to agree with Kelp Head, and her pride would never allow that, and two, she already had her mind set, and so it would be very hard to change it now.

"I agree with Poseidon," Apollo decided, looking timid.

"Chicken," Athena muttered. "You both are."

"I am not!" Both men protested.

Athena grinned. They were so gullible. They walked right into a trap she hadn't even realized she was setting.

"Prove it."

* * *

Apollo sulked at the backseat of the Sun Chariot. It was currently in the form of a convertible, though not the one he usually drove, as this one had a backseat.

The reason he was sulking was because his bossy sister (no, not Artemis, though she was bossy too), was driving his baby. He was also scared out of his mind, though he'd never admit it to anyone (well, maybe Hermes...).

The sky was gray with clouds, and getting darker, which made the trio a little concerned. Poseidon rode shotgun, gazing down at the ocean below, and sighing longingly every now and then. Athena would whack him over the head just for the hell of it every time he did, and Apollo was singing a really bad song (and off key, of course), making the other two even crabbier.

"Are we there yet?" Poseidon asked unnecessarily.

"You tell me," Athena snapped. Poseidon remained silent for about thirty seconds.

"Are we there yet?"

Athena's knuckles went white as her clutch on the steering wheel tightened as her anger level rose rapidly. "I'm going to throw you off this thing," she growled.

"Please do," Poseidon said. He sighed dramatically. "I still don't know why we have to ride this thing."

"Because I'm not going in the ocean," Athena replied.

"Why? Scared?" Poseidon asked smugly.

Athena snorted. "Yeah right," she said sarcastically.

Poseidon sighed.

Thunder rumbled, and lightning crackled.

"Dad's really cooking up a storm," Athena mumbled to herself. "I hope he hasn't found out..."

Poseidon gulped. "This is weird. Usually, I have control of the storms over the ocean."

"Suck it up, Fish Boy," Athena replied coolly.

Poseidon stuck his tongue out. "Don't you think that would be bad, though?" he asked. "I feel like someone else is wrestling me for the control." He closed his eyes, focusing.

Athena felt a bit concerned, but said nothing. She turned her attention back to driving. Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed.

"D-do you think dad found out we did this?" Apollo whispered to Athena.

She looked around, her grey eyes darkening and becoming stormy, like the sky. "I really hope not," she mumbled. Lightning flashed once more, a bolt of electricity arcing across the sky, narrowly missing the sun chariot. Apollo let out a girly shriek.

"Daddy, save me!" he screamed.

"Idiot," Athena muttered. "He's probably the one aiming at us anyway."

"Whyyy?" Apollo asked childishly.

"Why do you _think_?" was the response.

"Uh, guys? I have bad news," Poseidon said.

"We've got enough bad news as it is," Athena replied. "Might as well add yours."

"Well, I think Oceanus-and other sea spirits-have teamed up, and, uh, well... sorta... you know...overthrewme," Poseidon said, quickly mumbling the last part. But the Wisdom goddess caught it.

"They _overthrew you_? How?" she demanded.

"Well, teamed up, they're more powerful than me, and so... I can't control the ocean at the moment."

Silence settled between the companions, and the only noise was the ocean waves churning, and the sound of the wind and approaching storm.

Finally, Athena spoke up in a small voice. "But... you make hurricanes and ocean storms, right?"

"Storms come from the ocean," Poseidon pointed out. "And my brother has control over the storms, though. But I do make the hurricanes."

"So it won't be Oceanus or someone like that making this storm?" Apollo asked, voice high-pitched.

"Could be," Poseidon said witha shrug. Before the others could respond, a bolt of lightning shot toward them. Athena tugged on the wheel, causing the car to swerve away, and the lightning flew so close, the electricity made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She slammed her heel on the accelerator, and the chariot shot forward, straight toward the ocean. Apollo shrieked, and Poseidon joined in, screaming right into Athena's ear. she bit down on her lip so hard she felt ichor start to flow out, but kept her eyes forward. Lightning struck once more, this time, Athena wasn't fast enough, and it hit the hood of the car.

The electricity spread through the metal, sending a jolt and electricuting the trio. Athena let go of the steering wheel from the shock. It didn't matter much. The Sun Chariot was out of her control. It spiraled downwards through the stormy sky. Poseidon screamed something about water and fish, Apollo was screeching like a little girl, and in her panic, Athena turned into an owl. Unfortunately, she was wearing a seatbelt, and couldn't fly. She was still going down with the car.

They braced themselves for the impact. The car collided with the water, jarring the three gods. Athena turned back to human form, and unstrapped her seatbelt, swimming for the surface. Her head burst out of the water, and she took deep gulps of the air. She looked around, and Apollo appeared next to her.

"That's the sun that just sinked!" he yelled.

"Sank," Athena corrected him, and realized now probably wasn't the most appropriate time to correct Apollo's grammar. Her mental response to that was "it's always an appropriate time to correct Apollo's grammar."

Poseidon swam out of the water as well, looking horrified. "I can't breathe under there," he said worriedly. He had shed his metal armor, so he could swim above the water. Athena still had hers on, and Apollo's armor was leather. "How is that? It's supposed to be my element! I even have gills!"

"TMI, Uncle P, TMI," Apollo said.

"Huh?" Athena and Poseidon asked.

Apollo rolled his eyes. "Get with the times you two. TMI means Too Much Information."

"Oh," the other two said simultaneously. They looked around.

"What do we do?" Apollo whined. "We're gonna die!"

"We're immortal," Poseidon said.

There was a moment of silence as Apollo thought about this. "We're still gonna die!" the sun god sobbed.

"Pull yourselves together! We're not going to die! We'll get to the island, find Aphrodite, and get back to Olympus. We'll get Poseidon's power over the ocean back, and your car, Apollo, and everything will be fine," Athena said. "So _calm down_."

Apollo sniffled. "When she puts it that way, it seems so simple," he said.

Poseidon sighed. "Might as well get going," he said.

"To where?" Apollo demanded.

Athena looked around. There was no sun to use now, or stars. She pulled out a compass. "Well, we're closer to the island than land. It shouldn't be far. Maybe a few leagues west. So start swimming."

Apollo and Poseidon stared at her, open-mouthed. "Are you crazy?" Apollo asked. "There's no way we can swim that far!"

"It's our only chance!"

"Can't we flash out of here?" Poseidon asked.

"Already tried it," Athena replied. "For some reason it's not working. My guess is we passed some barrier, something that surrounds the island, and neutralizes our powers." She started to disappear under the water from the weight of her armor and Aegis, but Poseidon pulled her back up.

"Maybe we can find the exit to the barrier?" Apollo asked.

Athena shrugged. "We might as well-" and was submerged under the waves once more. Poseidon pulled her back up. "-give it a try," she finished. "I hope we don't end up swimming in circles."

The waves were getting rougher, and it was getting harder and harder to keep their heads above the water. Poseidon and Apollo were being pulled down too, though they weren't dressed as heavily. A huge wave crashed over them, sending them back under the water.

They surfaced once more, Poseidon dragging Athena by the straps of her armor.

"You might want to get rid of the armor!" he yelled over the wind. They were submerged once more, but Athena pulled off one strap of her breastplate, and Poseidon helped her slip the body armor off completely. She refused to give up Aegis though. She put it face down in the water, and the three leaned on it, using it to help them stay above.

Apollo started sobbing. "We're gonna die!" he kept saying over and over again.

They floated along, soaked to the bone, cold, and altogether, just very un-godlike.

"I told you!" Apollo yelled. "I told you should have gotten demigods to do this! Then they could have died instead, and Percy and Annabeth would come save Aphrodite, and we'd be safe and sound on Olym-"

Another huge wave crashed over them, and Athena's vision went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hmm. I changed the picture for the story. I have no clue why I had a map of Middle Earth before, but anyway, now the pic fits the story. Also, you'll notice, in chapter one, the haiku has been turned into a properly written haiku. YEs, thank you, hold your applause, *bows*, I know I should still get an award for lousy haikus. They're fun to write though.**

**Also, I was wondering, do you guys like it when the writer's reply to the comments in the chapters? Do you want me to send direct responses here, or should I just address people's comments indirectly?**

**Anyway, here's chapter three. Didn't take me as long to update it this time.**

**CHAPTER THREE:**

The sea.

The sound of waves crashing against the shore. _Splash, splash, splash._

_Am I dead? No, I can't be... Athena said it can't happen, cuz I'm immortal. And she's always right... right?_

Apollo groaned and opened his eyes. He was greeted by a gray sky, with no sun. Then he remembered why.

"My baby!" he moaned, and cried and wept for his car's fate. After a while, he recovered and sat up, looking around. He was on a beach. Not far away, the waves of the ocean lapped against the shoreline, before retreating, leaving the sandy ground wet. Apollo had dried off, though his clothes were torn. It made him think of people being shipwrecked. That's exactly how he was: tattered garments, no shoes, his hair was a _mess_. He found his bow, unbroken, a few feet away, and he still had a few arrows in his quiver. He rose unsteadily to his feet, and looked around, the memory that he had come with two other companions surfacing in his mind, the way he had surfaced from the sea.

"Uncle P?" Apollo called. "Athena?"

There was no response.

Then Apollo noticed Poseidon's trident lying in the sand, a couple yards away. The sun god dashed over to it, and bent down, examining his uncle's weapon. It had a lot of gold liquid on it.

Ichor.

Panic rose in his throat. "Oh no," Apollo said. "Poor Uncle P-wha?" he picked up a silver chain which lay nearby. It was a necklace, with a little owl charm on it. The one piece of jewelry Athena ever wore. "Oh no!" Apollo wailed. "They died! They must have drowned! Poor Uncle P! Poor Athena!" He started to cry again, harder than before, dropping to his knees in despair. "What a sad way to go! Die in your own realm, Uncle Poseidon! And Athena just had to be proven wrong before she died! She can die! Oh oh oh!" Apollo continued to weep, as two figures walked up to him.

"He's really lost it this time," the dark-haired man commented.

The grey-eyed woman shrugged. "He acts like this all the time," she replied.

Apollo looked up. "UNCLE P!" He exclaimed. "ATHENA!" He threw his arms around them, engulfing the two in a bear hug which knocked the wind out of their lungs. After a few minutes...

"Uh, Apollo?" Athena sqeaked, unable to get anymore air in her lungs to talk normally. "You can let go now..."

"Huh? Oh." Apollo stepped back, looking happily at his two relatives. They were both in the same situation as him; shoeless, tattered clothes. They must have kicked their shoes off to swim better. Athena's armor was entirely gone, as well as her spear, with only a dagger hanging at her side. She had somehow managed to hang onto Aegis, and she currently had the shield slung across her back.

Poseidon's beard had pieces of seaweed in it, which made Apollo think of one of Athena's many nicknames for him: Seaweed Beard. He really was this time. His hair was sticking up everywhere in a funny way, and his shirt was missing as well. He had a long gash across his left arm, which must have been the source of the ichor by his trident.

"You two survived! You're not dead," Apollo said brightly.

Athena sighed. She gave up on trying to convince him they were immortal. Just let him be scared of dying. It would save him a lot of suffering if his fear would make him careful.

"Where are we?" Poseidon asked, looking around.

"An island of some sort," Athena replied.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Poseidon snapped.

"Hey, you're the one with the sea radar. You tell _me_ where we are," Athena said bitterly.

"It's not working," Poseidon said.

"How could it not be working?"

"It's just not! Weren't you the one that said we lost our powers when we crossed that barrier?"

"Well then how do you expect me to be able to tell you?"

"You're supposed to know everything!"

"I do know everything!"

"Then where are we?"

"Everything... except that."

"What's the capital of Kenya?"

"Nairobi."

"It is?"

"Yes."

"Wow, you _do_ know everything."

"Uh huh... I told you so!"

The two continued to argue in this manner as Apollo looked around some more. They were on the beach, but further into the island was what looked like a forest, and even deeper in was a tall mountain. Hmm, maybe a volcano. Even bigger "hmm", maybe one of Hephaestus's forges. Apollo slung his bow across his back, and started to walked towards the forest, enjoying the feel of the soft sand on his feet.

"Hey you guys, I think we're here," Apollo said, imagining dramatic music playing in the background.

"Why do you say that?" Poseidon asked.

Apollo pointed at the sky. Right above the volcano, the clouds were shaped to spell out YOU ARE HERE.

"Oo-kay..." Athena said, sounding out the syllables, and exaggerating the Oo. She looked doubtful, and one of her eyebrows was raised so high, Apollo figured it was probably about to rise right off her forehead. "That's weird..."

"No it's not," Apollo said. "The bad guys were just being nice."

"That's not really how it works, Apollo," Poseidon said to his nephew.

Apollo looked a little confused. "It's not?"

Poseidon gave Athena a look that said, "help!"

She just shrugged, as if to say, "What do you want me to do?" or maybe it was just "deal with it yourself." Poseidon hoped it was the former. The trio just stood there in silence for a while, looking uncomfortable, none of them sure what to do-well, Apollo and Poseidon were, Athena was probably just thinking up a plan quickly.

"Er, so...?" Poseidon let that hang in the air.

"We should patch you up," Apollo said, pointing to POseidon's arm.

Poseidon nodded. "Alright. But I'd rather Athena did it."

"I'm insulted," Apollo said. "I'm the god of healing, and Athena is your rival! How could you distrust me so?"

"You're also the god of poetry," Poseidon muttered. "And listen to you doing that."

"My poetry is awesome!" Apollo argued. Just to prove it, he recited a haiku.

"_The sun has drowned deep__  
_

_Poseidon is mean to me_

_My Haikus are awesome"_

"The plural for haiku is haiku," Athena said, still looking deep in thought. "And that last line had six syllables."

"It did?" Apollo asked. "Oh. Hmm..."

Poseidon facepalmed, groaning. "Why me?" he moaned. "Why am I stuck with a smart-Alec brainiac, and a poetry-nut who doesn't know his profession?"

"Hey!" Athena and Apollo protested.

The sea god ignored them, and looked around. "Well, Feather Brain. What's the plan?"

Athena chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Head towards the volcano. Save Aphrodite. Escape. Not get incinerated."

"Great idea," Poseidon said dryly. "Got anything more detailed that Apollo can't think of?"

"I doubt he thought about the not getting incinerated part," Athena said.

"It's true," APollo said. "I didn't think about the not getting sinerted part."

"It's incinerated."

"Oh. Well, see, I didn't think of it, cuz I don't know what it means."

Poseidon snickered while Athena started banging her head against a tree. Finally, she recovered, and after using Apollo's shirt to bandage up Poseidon's injury, led the two idiots-uh, gods, she meant-towards the volcano.

They hiked through the forest. It was hot and humid, reminding them of those days on Olympus where the two morons walking behind Athena were in a bad mood. Poseidon put lots of water in the air causing the humidity, and Apollo made it really hot outside.

"Wait a minute..." Athena said, stopping suddenly in her tracks. Neither Apollo or Poseidon were expecting that, so they couldn't stop on time. Apollo bumped into Athena, and Poseidon bumped into Apollo. It caused all three of them to tumbled down a steep incline, rolling up and down.

_Thump, thump, thump._

"Owwy!" Apollo whined, holding up his hand, which had a small scratch.

"Arrgmmmph," said Poseidon, who had somehow ended up with Athena's shoe in his mouth. It was especially odd since they'd lost their shoes when they were still in the sea.

The fall didn't even seem to have registered in her mind. She climbed to her feet. "How is it so hot outside? And how is it so bright? I mean, your car fell into the ocean!"

Apollo sniffled. "Don't remind me." He held up his finger, putting a colorful band-aid with suns on it over his cut.

"No, you don't think that's weird?" she asked.

"Not really," Poseidon replied. "Should I?"

"YES! You imbeciles!"

Apollo and Poseidon looked at her blankly.

"Oh, forget it. Just be on your guard."

The trio continued to hike some more in silence. Suddenly, a loud, high-pitched scream pierced the air from a distance away, echoing around the island. It was familiar, and it took a Athena a moment to realize why.

"APHRODITE!"

_To be continued..._

**Dum dum dum! *Dramatic music***

**Alright, this chapter was very focused on the dialogue, and I apologize for the lack of action. Hopefully the next chapter will be more exciting. Also, I want to know how you guys feel about how the dialogue carrying on the story. That's my style, but sometimes I get a little carried away (being ADD and ramdomly adding random conversations contributes to that), so let me know if I over do it, and if you want more descriptions of stuff.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Aloha! Chapter four is up! (*Grumble* I just got an error, so now I gotta go over this AGAIN and rewrite the note AGAIN!).**

**Anyhow, here is the next chapter. It was written in some class which I can't even remember which one (Hebrew, I think. Ironic, isn't it?). I finished it up quickly, and all, so I hope it isn't bad for being done so quick. At least you guys can read some more. :)**

**Oh, and as a response to what I wrote last time (yeah, only one review to answer me, so I'm going to go with a majority. :P)**

**forever in the shadows 16**: **Poseidon's intellect? Hmm... well, he's actually pretty smart. I think he just gets distracted easily, so he's not always completely focused on the conversation, resulting in dimwitted or random comments from him.**

**Oh, and the reason Athena kept getting called by various insolent nicknames in this chapter is because it's kind of Poseidon's point of view, although still third person. Onward to the story!  
**

CHAPTER FOUR:

"My nail! Ow!" Aphrodite moaned, clutching her right hand. Athena, Poseidon, and Apollo burst into the clearing. Athena skidded to a stop next to the cage Aphrodite was currently sitting in.

The goddess of Wisdom snorted. "Why do I even _bother_ being nice?" she muttered. "I should just stick to turning insolent brats to spiders." She crossed her arms, glaring at Aphrodite until she stopped whining and noticed Athena standing there.

Her eyes lit up. "Athena!" she exclaimed. "I knew you'd save me!"

"Yeah... that's me... the knight in shining armor," Athena mumbled.

Apollo pouted while Poseidon snickered. "You have no right to predict or know Athena would save you!" Apollo said to Aphrodite. "_I'm_ the god of prophecy! Not you!"

"Get over it," Poseidon advised.

"Help me out of here?" Aphrodite asked hopefully.

"Don't have much of a choice," Athena replied, looking even grumpier. Poseidon couldn't help but observe how similar she was to her father. Maybe that's why he hated her so much. Oh, and the fact she just snatched his _trident._ _HIS_ trident. She'd started hacking at Aphrodite's cage with it.

"Alright, Aph," Athena said. "Start talking. How did you get here? -Tweedle Dee and Twiddle Dum, you two can go keep watch for any intruders."

Poseidon looked a little miffed at being called Twiddle Dum (or was he Tweedle Dee?) and having his trident used for such disrespectful purposes (seriously, Owl Head! It's not a hammer!), but he went to play look out anyway. Apollo followed, asking him if he wanted to be Tweedle Dee or Twiddle Dum. Ignoring the sun god, he focused his attention on scanning his surroundings and listening to Aphrodite and that irritating Bird Brain.

"So how the Hades did you get captured again?" Feather Brain asked, continuing to hack at the cage.

"I was going to meet Ares for brunch," Aphrodite explained. "And I was taking a shortcut, and there was a trap."

"Uh... why didn't you just flash to the restaurant?" Pallas "Annoying" Athena replied. And _seriously_, thought Poseidon, why was knowing why Aphrodite didn't flash to the restaurant important?

He sighed inwardly, and kept looking around for any sign of intruders while Athena (he was getting tired of wasting his precious time coming up with insults for her) continued to question Aphrodite. Most of it seemed like pointless banter to him, however, the answers the goddess of love was giving was adding up to one person.

Well, actually, no it wasn't.

He had no clue who was behind this.

Finally, he got very irritated and interrupted Athena. "Who _did_ all this?" he demanded.

Aphrodite sighed. "I don't know. I could never see their face."

"Maybe it's the no-faced zombie," Apollo suggested.

"No, it wasn't a zombie," Aphrodite replied. "It didn't moan or groan." They started to debate the qualities that identified zombies.

Cue for Athena to start groaning about their lack of intellect. And... yep, there she goes. Knowing her for four thousand years helped make her more predictable to him. She rarely surprised him these days.

Suddenly, in the corner of his eye, he caught a movement. He rapidly twisted around to that direction, searching for the source of the lapse in the natural pattern of things (see, Athena! I'm not an idiot!).

"Uh, guys?" he whispered, and they all fell silent at the urgency in his tone. Athena tossed him his trident and shrugged Aegis onto her arm. Poseidon winced at the hideous face protruding from the shield, before turning his attention back to the threat. Apollo nocked an arrow into his bow.

"What is it?" Aphrodite whispered. Everyone was tense, ready to spring into action. The bush rustled, and a squirrel scampered out. Apollo shrieked like a little girl, scaring the squirrel away, and released the arrow. Fortunately, the panicking and scaring the squirrel ruined his aim, so the small, innocent rodent was unharmed.

Athena exhaled and lowered her shield. She blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Oh no, it's a deadly squirrel. It'll kill us all. Run for your lives if you don't want to spend the rest of eternity in Tartarus," she said in a monotone, though she looked a little baffled. Probably because squirrels weren't tropical animals.

Poseidon sighed, bracing himself for the scolding about to come from her for being an idiot and getting all freaked out because of a squirrel. For the first time in a long time, she surprised him.

"You've got good senses if you spotted a squirrel, Seaweed Beard, but next time try to make sure the threat is a foe and not a harmless animal." And with that, she resumed hacking at Aphrodite's cage, each blow ringing the air with a clang. Oh, his poor, poor trident.

"Is that actually _working_?" he demanded. "Or are you just trying to break my baby?"

CLANG! "Relax, Poseidon-" CLANG! "-I'm not trying to-" CLANG! "Harm your-" CLANG! "-Trident." CLANG!

"Just making sure," Poseidon mumbled. He winced as he heard the next clang, still feeling concerned for his favorite possession.

CLANG!

He winced again.

CLANG!

His whole body tensed as he waited for the next blow, but it never came. He frowned. "Did you get the cage open, Owl Face?" he asked.

No response.

"Athena?"

Apollo looked over his shoulder and gasped. Poseidon slowly started to turn around. "What's goi-oh, Hades," he cursed. Athena was sprawled out across the forest floor, a large gash across the back of her head, he dark hair sticky with golden Ichor. Aphrodite's mouth was wide open in a silent scream.

And standing over the probably unconscious Wisdom goddess, were two people which explained why the island was so hot and humid, Apollo's chariot had sunk, and Poseidon had no power over the ocean. The first figure was tall and wearing Greek Armor, but he was glowing brightly, just a flaming human figure, with yellow orbs, like mini suns, for eyes.

"H-Hyperion," Poseidon said in horror. Besides the titan was another familiar face, Poseidon's old nemesis. And no, Nemesis was not his nemesis. It was Oceanus.

"Hello Poseidon," Oceanus said, smiling sadistically.

"That's low," Poseidon growled. "Attacking someone from behind."

Oceanus shrugged. "I find it practical. Saves the trouble of fighting the goddess of war." He nudged Athena with his foot. She groaned.

"Poseidon!" Apollo yelled. "I see the bad guys! Should I attack?" He clumsily nocked another arrow into his bow.

Hyperion stuck his sword through the cage bars, poking Aphrodite in the chest with the point. She whimpered. "This sword is made of adamanteum," he said. "It's the only metal that can kill immortals. I recommend you put that arrow down, _boy._"

Apollo glowered at him. "Dude, I'm over three thousand years old! Don't call me a boy!"

"Apollo, stand down, or Aphrodite could get hurt," Poseidon warned.

"Yeah, that's right," Hyperion agreed. "You don't want Mr. Pretty to get hurt."

"I _am_ pretty..." Aphrodite admitted.

"Shut up!" Oceanus yelled. The door to Aphrodite's cage swung open. "Get in. Both of you. And you there, _boy,_ bring Athena with you."

"Ooh, is that a coconut?" Poseidon asked. Oceanus and Hyperion looked where he pointed, and he tackled Oceanus.

Apollo yelled "GERONIMO!" and jumped onto Hyperion, piggy-back riding him and yelling "giddyap!" as Hyperion screamed at him to let go. Aphrodite stared at them in shock for a moment, before leaping out of the cage and dragging Athena's body into the forest.

"GET BACK HERE!" Oceanus screamed before getting his face planted in the dirt by Poseidon.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGG GGGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Hyperion roared. "Get off, you little brat!" He tried to shake Apollo off of him, but Apollo hung on for his immortal life.

* * *

Aphrodite disappeared from view, and she ran as fast as she could while wearing high-heels, having messy hair and a broken nail, and dragging an unconscious Athena (and whoa, that girl was_ not_ light. She really needed to drop some of the muscle, though at least it didn't _show_). She could hear the guys and the titans screaming from back there, but she kept going, dragging Athena by her ankles.

Wait a minute, was Athena holding her shield? Well, no wonder she was so heavy! Aphrodite snatched up the shield, placed it on the ground upside-down, put Athena on it, and sat on top of her. Then she pushed the shield forward a little, and they were sledding down a hill. Aphrodite started screaming, her voice echoing around the island, before they hit a tree branch and she face-planted in the dirt. Stars burst into her vision.

"Uh..." she grunted.

"Yup," Athena agreed from behind. "Life sucks sometimes."

"But we're immortals," Aphrodite mumbled.

"Doesn't seem to excuse us, does it?" Athena grumbled. "Now, can you fix my head? I think I have a concussion."

_To be continued..._

__**Until next time! Don't forget to review, because that's what makes the world (the fanfiction world, at least) go round! Constructive criticism is appreciated (though preferably delivered in a respectful way).** **Adios amigos!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it's been a while. I have no excuse. Just a bit of ADD to get easily distracted and not motivated... I'm afraid this chapter was also kind of short than my usual 1500 hundred words minimum, so I apologize, and hopefully I can push myself to post more often. Reviews are always motivating...**

**Oh, and MrsEDarcy, no worries. I am well aware that Oceanus is Athena's grandpops. However, the gods and titans and everyone have always seemed to have family issues. Who else eats their kids and chops their dad to pieces? :) **

**And... *dramatic music* keep your socks on, folks, you might need them! (Why, you ask? To wear shoes!) And, (hopefully long awaited, since it makes me feel happy if you guys have been enjoying the story) chapter five!**

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

"So, um, how do you want me to help?" Aphrodite asked uncertainly.

Athena ripped the the bottom of her shirt off, and held it to the back of her head. "Never mind. I doubt you'll know much how to help me. Where's Apollo and Poseidon?"

"I, well..." Aphrodite stared at the ground, and winced as she spotted the hideous face of Medusa protruding from Aegis. "I left them behind."

"Of course you did," Athena said dryly. Aphrodite pouted.

"It all happened to fast!" she protested. "I didn't have much time to think!"

"It's not like thinking has ever done you any good," Athena retorted. Aphrodite's eyes teared up.

"Just because I'm not the goddess of wisdom doesn't mean I'm stupid!" she wailed. "Not everyone can think of everything when they're panicking! You don't have to be so mean!"

Athena's stern expression softened. She swallowed her pride. "I-I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean it like that. I know you did your best. Just... try to be more careful next time, hmm?"

Aphrodite nodded meekly. Then she brightened. "KK!" she said enthusiastically, and threw her arms around Athena in a hug.

"Now's not really the time for a hug," Athena observed, awkwardly hugging the goddess of love back.

"It's always the time for a hug!" Aphrodite said happily, wiping away her tears. She started hopping up and down, and grabbed Athena's hand childishly.

"Let's go save the boys!"

Athena had to grin slightly at that. "Not very heroic of them, is it."

She tied the cloth around her head, hoping it'd help keep her from bleeding too much. She scooped up her shield, and grabbed a tree branch for a weapon. "Let's go show them who they got involved with."

Aphrodite smirked. "Lead the way, Owl Head."

* * *

"Ow, the light! It burns, it burns!" Apollo shrieked. Poseidon gave him a strange look.

"You're the god of the sun! How could light hurt you?" he said.

"I don't know! Tell him to lower it! It burns!"

Poseidon squinted through the bright light at Hyperion. "Uh, do you mind?" he asked politely.

Hyperion rolled his eyes (well, his sun-orb eyes anyway), but the light went down.

Poseidon looked around to see where they were. It was dark, and took a few moments for his eyes to get used to the dark. They were in a huge place, the inside of a volcano. There was a dim glow from the lava below, but it only briefly illuminated the cavern, as it was so far down.

The strange looking gate of their cell slammed shut, sealing Poseidon and Apollo inside. Oceanus was gripping Poseidon's trident in both hands, looking triumphant.

"Finally, I have power of the seas again," he said. "Perhaps I'll even go get Crius and Iapetus and the rest of the titans. You're son won't be able to defeat us again! Ha!"

"Of course he will!" Poseidon said. "Just watch! He'll come and-uh-do whatever it is heroes do!" he gripped the bars of his cell. "Right after Aphrodite and Athena save _us_!"

Oceanus laughed. "Do you _hear_ yourself, Poseidon? I might have been worried if it was the other case, but Aphrodite is no threat to us. She is stranded here, and will soon rejoin you, and we'll be able to use her for what we needed. As for Pallas, she is a worthy opponent, but she is weak and wounded, and will be easy to defeat. She doesn't seem quite as alert as she used to be."

Apollo started to weep. "We're doomed!" he sobbed. "DOOMED! Whatever shall we do? We'll fade away, locked in this scary place! I won't be able to show the world my wonderful Haikus ever again!

"_Oh woe to us all_

_The god of the sun will fall_

_And dark will prevail!"_

Poseidon, Oceanus, and Hyperion all winced at the terrible haiku. Though it wasn't as bad as usual. Apollo had even used big words.

"We have other business to take care of," Oceanus informed the two. "So we will leave you for now. Enjoy your stay." He laughed an evil laugh.

"You gotta work on the evil laugh," Poseidon said. "It just sounds weird. It should be more like _Muhahaha!_ Not _Muhaha! _You see the difference?"

Oceanus frowned, and tried again. "_Muhahaha! _You mean like this?" he asked.

"Not quite, but it's better," Poseidon replied. "Keep trying. _Muhahaha!"'_

Oceanus's features scrunched up from the effort. "_Muhahaha!_"

"There you go! You're getting there!" Poseidon said.

Apollo took out a harmonica and started playing I'm-stuck-in-jail music.

That was cue for Oceanus and Hyperion to leave the two, and for Poseidon to suffer through Apollo's bad music.

"Athena, you better come get me out of here soon," Poseidon muttered, hoping things made a turn for the better once. Now he knew how the Half-bloods must feel.

Is the world against him now?

* * *

Aphrodite squeaked. "Ow! This is so hard!" she said. "People go hiking for _fun_?"

"At least you have shoes," Athena said, picking another splinter out of her bare foot.

"But my feet hurt," Aphrodite said.

"Give me your shoes for a moment," Athena said. Aphrodite confusedly handed her her stiletto heels. Athena broke the heel, bent the shoe, and handed them back to Aphrodite.

"What was that for?"

"To make them more comfortable," Athena answered. "Now stop whining, and keep walking." She ducked around a poison ivy plant, but when she stood up bumped her head on a low tree branch. Sparks burst into her vision from her already sensitive head.

Aphrodite looked at the now very unfashionable shoes, but put them on anyways. Her eyes widened when she saw that they were much more comfortable. "How do you do that?" she asked Athena, who was rubbing her head, and taking her anger out on the evil branch.

"Hey, watch it!" a crabby nymph said.

Athena humphed and continued walking. Aphrodite hurried to catch up.

"It's cold," she said.

Athena sighed. "I'm sorry," she said in a false sweet voice. "Would you like me to make a warm coat appear and perhaps make it a little warmer outside? Or maybe we can find a spa and you can get a massage?"

"Ooh, that would be wonderful!" Aphrodite said, smiling excitedly.

Athena's fake smiled dropped. "Well, I can't, so just dream about it until it'll actually happen. Or it won't ever happen if you keep crying about it."

Aphrodite glared at her. "You're even more misguiding than Gaia."

"Where could they have gone?" Athena mumbled to herself as Aphrodite continued to talk. The goddess of wisdom just tuned her out, though. She knelt down to examine the earth, lips pursed. She wasn't as skilled in tracking as, say Artemis, but she searched for recent passage through here that wasn't part of the normal nature.

"What are you doing?" Aphrodite asked.

"Shh..." Athena said, raising her head, and closed her eyes, listening. She pressed her ear to the ground. "Something approaches," she said.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Would you please be quiet? I'm trying to listen!"

"But-"

"Shh. I have to figure out where it is."

"But-"

"What?" Athena snapped.

Aphrodite pointed. Athena followed her finger.

"RAWR!" said the minotaur.

"Oh, it's you," Athena said. The minotaur let out another roar, and charged.

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

**And chapter six has arrived! Hurray! :) I think (for now) I can update more often. I think our heroes might be reaching the last leg of their journey, but don't worry! This adventure might be over, but you haven't seen the last of Aphrodite and Athena. They'll get into plenty more trouble in other stories!**

**Onward to the chapter!**

**CHAPTER SIX:**

The minotaur charged.

Aphrodite shrieked, and leaped into Athena's arms, Scooby Doo style.

"RUN!" she screamed. Athena needed no second order. She turned around and fled through the forest.

"He's gaining on us!" Aphrodite said. Athena glanced over her shoulder and yelped.

"He's here!" she skidded to a stop and dropped Aphrodite.

"What do we do?" the goddess of love moaned.

"Wait till the last mo-AHHH!" Athena shoved Aphrodite out of harm's way as the minotaur barreled passed. The two quickly got up. The Minotaur's arms were held out as he charged once more, so the previous strategy wasn't going to work. Athena rolled away, but the bull-man picked Aphrodite up. She started to scream for help, and Athena stood up hastily to go help.

The fast movements weren't helping Athena's head wound in the least, and everything began to spin, and the vertigo made her walk almost like a drunken person, unable to stay balanced. She tried to move away from her opponent, but instead walked into a tree. She put her arms out and stumbled around blindly.

"Do something!" Aphrodite yelled.

"Where are you?" Athena demanded, drawing her dagger. She ran right into the minotaur, who knocked her sky high. Aphrodite watched her go.

CRASH!

The war goddess hit the ground, and lay still, in a daze. She climbed dizzily back to her feet. She could see three minotaurs charging, and tried to figure out which was the real one. Her knuckles were white from clutching the dagger. She tried to get out of the way of the monster, but he just ended up picking her up with his other hand.

Aphrodite plucked the dagger from the being-squashed goddess, and shoved it up the minotaur's eye. He howled and turned to dust.

"I... I saved us!" Aphrodite said in a amazement. Athena was still stumbling around dizzily, so Aphrodite shoved her into a pond-thing (or some kind of small body of water) to knock her to her senses.

Athena surfaced, spluttering. "I'm okay! I'm okay! Where's the chocolate?"

"I've got some in my pocket."

After they split the chocolate bar to make them feel better, Aphrodite re-wrapped Athena's head, and they both had a while to recover, and mourn, since Athena's shield was gone.

"What now?" Aphrodite asked when the last chocolate crumb had been consumed. Athena sighed, gazing longingly at the empty Hershey's wrapper.

"We save the guys, I guess," she said.

"But they're supposed to save us," Aphrodite said. "You know, damsel in distress?"

"I already rescued you. Quit whining. Ares isn't here. Come on." Athena got up and dusted herself off. The two companions plunged back into the forest.

"Where are we going?" Aphrodite inquired.

"The volcano. Something tells me we'll find them there."

"Last time we followed your instincts we fell off Olympus," Aphrodite grumbled. Athena stuck her tongue out.

"We were going in the right direction, though," she argued. "Not my fault it included walking off a mountain!"

"Hmmph," Aphrodite humphed. They both sulked for a while, until they arrived at the side of the huge hollowed out mountain.

"We're here," Athena said. "Finally."

"How do we get in?" Aphrodite asked.

Athena sighed. "Must I think of everything?"

Aphrodite nodded. "You're the brains and the brawn, and I'm the more important thing: Beauty and charm. But either way, as the one with all those... smarticles, you have to think of everything."

"Hurrah," Athena muttered. She pressed her ear to the solid rock, listening.

"Well?" Aphrodite asked.

"Shut it. I'm trying to find their secret hide out."

"What makes you think they have a secret hide out?"

"_Every_ bad guy has a secret hide out, and this volcano is the coolest place on the island, so it'll be here."

Aphrodite nodded. She _knew_ she'd chosen the right genius. Athena's logic was flawless.

**Please enter the password,** said a metallic voice, and a panel appeared. Athena started pressing buttons.

"What are you doing now?" Aphrodite asked.

"Putting in the standard password," Athena answered.

**Password incorrect. Entrance to Facility 3 will self destruct in ten seconds.**

Athena squeaked. "Run!"

The two whirled around and ran away clumsily from the mountain.

"Ow, my feet! I want shoes!" Aphrodite screamed.

"Keep running!" Athena yelled.

BOOM! the mountain side exploded, sending debris flying everywhere. One piece hit Aphrodite on the head, and a small burning piece of something started to make a hole in Athena's foot. She hopped around yelping while Aphrodite continued to run, albeit dizzily, and stumbling over the rough path worse than before.

They reached a clearing, and Athena plunged her foot back into the pond place they had been at before while Aphrodite fell to the ground and watched the world spin.

"Gah! The world is ending!" Aphrodite sobbed. "Everything's spinning!"

Athena let out a sigh of relief as she felt the burning go away from the cool water. She pulled her foot back out and made her way to Aphrodite, who was slowly recovering from her dizziness.

"I think we went in a circle," she commented, and looked at Athena, cross-eyed. Slowly, her vision seemed to be focusing.

Athena sighed. "Come on, Makeup Brain. Let's get this over with." She looked up at the sky. The sun was setting. The day would be ending soon. In the distance, a wolf howled. Aphrodite tensed up.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered. Athena nodded.

"But it was far away. So-"

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" came another howl, from much closer. Many others answered, all from different distances, not at all far.

"Di Immortals!" Athena muttered.

"What?" Aphrodite asked.

"Huh?"

"You were asking something of the immortals. What can I do for you?"

"Ha ha," Athena said sarcastically. More howling.

"What do we do?" Aphrodite said. "We'll be eaten by wolves!"

"Wolves don't eat people. There's no reason to be-_DI IMMORTALS!"_

Three _huge_ wolves had just trotted into the clearing, and it looked like it would take only one of them to tear Athena to shreds, even if she was fully armed and with her powers.

"Up a tree!" Athena exclaimed. "Wolves can't climb trees!"

The two goddesses both scrambled up the tallest tree they could find, searching for branches sturdy enough to hold their weight, and settled among the branches. Not a moment too soon. The wolves had chased them to the tree and were pawing at the trunks, trying to get them down. It only took a moment for Athena to realize what kind of wolves these were.

"Lupa's Spawn! Arrgh! I hate Romans!" Athena yelled at the sky.

"I hate wolves!" Aphrodite added. "They eat people!"

"No they don't!"

They were both cowering somewhere on a thick branch in a large pine tree, on the edge of a cliff. To one side was the growing number of (Roman, or so Athena claimed) wolves, and the other side was a steep fall down the cliff.

"We're doomed! To escape from the minotaur only to be eaten by wolves!" Aphrodite said.

"Out of the frying pan into the fire," Athena agreed. She pulled her legs up as a wolf nearly got his teeth around them.

"Thank you, Gandalf!" Aphrodite snapped.

"You're welcome, Mr. Baggins," Athena replied with a smirk.

"Did you just compare to a fat half-a-person who has six meals a day?" Aphrodite demanded.

"Yup," Athena replied smugly. "Especially with your appetite. You've even got the right shape."

"You just called me fat! How dare you! You're-you're stupid, then!" Aphrodite replied.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

The wolves howled again, and growled.

"Romans!" Athena yelped.

"Wolves!" Aphrodite squeaked.

Their tree was leaning very far to the side, but neither were aware of that, as they were too busy arguing.

The wolves were all throwing themselves at the trunk, unearthing the poor tree by its roots, as it tilted down even further. There was a crack as another wolf pushed its weight against the trunk in an attempt to get up, and the whole tree fell down.

"Timber!" Athena hollered as she realized what was happening. Aphrodite screamed as the tree leveled out and slid down the cliff at full speed. "Hang on tight!"

Both girls screamed as the tree flew down, crashing into other trees and even causing a rock slide in its wake. Athena clutched her branch for dear (immortal) life, hoping Aphrodite was doing the same as she felt branches and wind whip through her hair and in her face.

Finally, the branch skidded to a stop.

Aphrodite's eyes were closed as she clutched at the branch. "I'm under my bed, I'm under my bed," she whimpered.

"We're safe," Athena told her, and let out a sigh of relief.

Aphrodite tentatively opened her eyes and looked around. She fell off the branch onto the ground, and kissed the earth. "Thank Gaia!"

"Not a good idea," Athena snorted, sliding off the tree to join her half-sister. Aphrodite sat up, and spat dirt out of her mouth, making a face.

"We're at the mountain entrance again," Athena said. "What kind of security is this? They make it self destruct and leave a gaping hole into the mountain?"

Aphrodite dusted herself off and walked over to Athena.

"Is that our ticket in?"

"I think so," Athena replied.

Together, they plunged into the darkness.

_To be continued..._

**That's a bit of a cliffhanger, right? :) Anyway, don't forget to review. The more the merrier.**

**Hmm. Some of this chapter was written out in a notebook, and I don't really like the way it came out. The last part was fun to right though. The picture in my head is much funnier though. I should try to direct a TV show or something...**

**REVIEW! :)**

**-Grumpyheroine**


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright, I guess not updating very often. It's only been about a week though, so not too bad. It's Passover, so I've had a busy week... I went to the Israel Comic Con and got this cool board game...**

**So here's the next chapter. There should be about two or three more chapters until this is over, and maybe an epilogue.**

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

The tunnel was dark, and so the two goddesses stumbled around clumsily for a while. It was a narrow path, and so they went in single file, Athena in the front. She tripped over a rock.

"Ow!"

"Athena, look out for that rock," Aphrodite said.

"Gee, thanks," Athena grumbled. There was a thump as she stumbled over another one, and she hopped around for a moment, squeaking and cursing.

"And that one," said Aphrodite. Athena grit her teeth.

"Thanks a lot, Gilligan," she said.

"No problem," Aphrodite replied, oblivious to the sarcasm. They continued on in this manner for a while, Athena the victim of all the obstacles in the tunnel, and Aphrodite suggesting she avoid them directly after she walked into them.

Athena was about ready to just sit down and give up and nurse her injuries (which were very numerous), when they saw a light up ahead. The hurried forward, causing them both to bump into things even more than before, but they weren't even paying attention. As it turned out, the cave tunnel just continued, only with torches on the wall.

"That's old fashioned," Aphrodite observed, and looked around grumpily. "And we're not even there yet." She crossed her arms.

Athena sighed. "Let's keep going. Maybe we'll find something. Stay on guard, and keep your ears and eyes alert."

"You mean, listen for those snakes, and see those spiders?" Aphrodite asked. Athena squeaked.

"WHERE?!" she yelped, hopping onto Aphrodite's back to get off the ground.

"I'd point, but I can't," the love goddess replied. "Ew, it's so hairy and ugly..."

"I don't care! Does it have eight legs?"

"Yes."

"Then it's a spider!"

Both of them stared at the approaching black crawling eight-legged creature, both breathing heavily, and terrified. Aphrodite was the type of person to be scared of small things that crawled, and jump on chairs and scream to express it, and Athena was the type of person who knew spiders were out to get revenge on her for creating their far ancestor in such a hideous form, and so generally just froze up and lost her bearings when she saw one.

Either way, neither was going to stop the small harmless multi-legged creature, as they were both busy expressing their fear in exactly the ways that were just described. Aphrodite was trying to climb up the walls of the cave, screaming fearfully, and Athena watched the Arachnids approaching, eyes wide, and completely unmoving. Paralyzed with fear.

The spider came closer...

And closer...

And scampered passed, completely oblivious to the two cowering goddesses. As soon as it had disappeared around the corner into the dark, they let out a sigh of relief.

"It's gone," Aphrodite said with relief.

"No it's not," Athena gulped. "I bet it went to go get its friends! Gah! We have to get out of here!"

They both leaped up and sprinted down the lit up passageway, as fast as they could, until they bumped into Oceanus. The titan was big, very big. His hair and beard and clothes were always dripping wet, and he seemed to produce the water from his body, as it came out a lot, giving him the appearance that he was standing in a waterfall. His skin had a blue tinge to it. Worst of all, he was carrying Poseidon's trident.

Athena spat water out of her mouth, wondering how it had gotten into her mouth. She backed up when she saw the source.

"Hello, grandfather," she said coolly.

"He's your grandpa?" Aphrodite asked in surprise.

Athena nodded. "Metis-uh, my mother's-father."

"You had a mother?"

"Yes! Of course I did!" Athena snapped. "Dad, uh... ate her."

"He did?"

"Yes. As you can see, Zeus is no different than Kronos," Oceanus said. "Now, can you two pay attention to me, since I'm the current threat?"

"Shush," Athena said. "We're trying to have a discussion. We'll be with you in a moment."

"Dad seriously _ate_ her?" Aphrodite demanded. "He didn't eat my mother!"

"Gaia didn't give him a prophecy that her son would overthrow him."

"What son?"

"Well, technically, if I'd been a boy..."

"I don't think now is the time to discuss this," Oceanus snapped. "If you'd like to discuss what you could have done to help us take over the wor-er, to overthrow your father... would you like to make a deal?"

"I'm not overthrowing my father," Athena told him.

He shrugged. "It was worth the try. Someone has to fulfill that prophecy some day. It's assumed it said a son of Zeus and Metis, but maybe it was just a child?"

Athena looked at him pointedly. He nodded, getting the point.

"Now, I think we should move on, and get to business, because you two are trespassing, and I don't like trespassers."

"We were just on our way out," Aphrodite said.

"We were?" Athena asked. Aphrodite nodded, and grabbed her arm. They ducked into an adjacent passage to the one they were in.

"Get back here!" Oceanus bellowed. "You two can run, but you can't hide!"

"Well, I'm gonna run then," Athena said as she and Aphrodite disappeared from Oceanus's view into the darkness. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, blinding them.

"Aiii!" Athena yelled, covering her eyes. She could hear Aphrodite reacting similarly, probably also trying to protect her vision. She felt someone grab her shoulder and shove her forward, and was too busy trying to see to fight back, wincing and feeling around as she felt her eyes burning.

There was a clang, and the light cleared away. Aphrodite blinked as her vision cleared, and the dark spots slowly faded. She was in a small cage, with Athena, Apollo and Poseidon.

"Howdy," Poseidon said grimly.

Athena buried her face in her hands and groaned.

Aphrodite didn't understand what was bothering her. They'd found the boys! Squealing happily, she gave them both hugs.

"We've been looking all over for you!" she said. "And-and there were wolves, and minotaurs, and evil trees, and blowing up mountains-and-and spiders!"

Poseidon looked at Athena, a baffled expression on his face. Apollo just showed his sympathy to Aphrodite, going as far as to recite a haiku to cheer her up. It didn't help, but she did appreciate his trying.

"Blowing up mountains and evil trees?" Poseidon said, looking at Athena. She shrugged.

"You really don't wanna know," she said.

"It's been what, three hours, and you've gotten yourself into that much trouble?"

Aphrodite had silenced Apollo to watch Poseidon and Athena interact, because she thought it was cute. The two rivals were unaware of their spectators though.

"It wasn't _on purpose_," Athena argued with the sea god. He rolled his eyes.

"And yet, you both look like you've been attacked by angry trees."

"Evil trees, I do believe Aphrodite called them," Athena corrected him.

"Evil trees are usually very angry," Poseidon observes.

"And how would you know that?" Athena replied. "Do you spend time with trees a lot?"

Poseidon stuck his tongue out, knowing what Athena was referring to. "Nymphs aren't evil or angry," he said.

"Cyclopes are," Athena replied offhandedly.

"No they're not! Not mine! Haven't you met Tyson? He's nice. And-all the ones that work at the forges are also nice," Poseidon grumped. "The evil ones are Gaia's kids."

Athena just rolled her eyes.

"So how do we get out of here?" Apollo interrupted.

"Out of where?" Athena asked.

"This jail room," Apollo answered. Athena looked around, realizing where they were. The four of them were locked in the prison cell Poseidon and Apollo had been in for the whole time Athena and Aphrodite were adventuring.

She tried the door, just out of habit, as it wouldn't hurt to try, and discovered unsurprisingly that it was locked. She sighed, and plopped down beside Apollo on the bench in the cell.

"Dang it," she grumbled. "We're stuck."

"No kidding," Poseidon replied. "What do we do?"

No one said anything, as they didn't know.

Finally, Aphrodite sighed dramatically. "Oh, what are they going to do with us?" she moaned.

Like Poseidon's question, no one knew how to respond, and they all sat there together, wondering what their fate would be.

_To be continued..._

**Sorry it took so long to post a new chappie, I've had a busy week. :) Review, if you can, and suggestions and feedback are always welcome! -And sorry if this is badly written. I'm being kicked off and so don't have time to edit.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**I'm ba-ack! Ha ha. :) And chapter three is here! I'm so proud of myself, I've been updating quite a lot lately. Of course, you're all helping with motivating reviews. Either way, I won't hold you any longer, onward to the nonsense that is these four Olympians' adventure...**

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

"Wake up," Apollo whispered, shaking Aphrodite awake. She rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I want to get out of here," the sun god said sadly.

"You woke me up to tell me that?" Aphrodite replied. Apollo shrugged.

"I thought you might feel like that too," he said. Aphrodite opened her mouth to scold him for that, but closed when she realized he was right.

"We need to get out," she said. He nodded.

"How?"

"Maybe you can burn the bars?"

"I tried. My powers don't work, though."

"Maybe Poseidon or Athena can think of something?" Aphrodite crawled over to her friends. They'd both fallen asleep, and had somehow ended up snuggling, though fast asleep and unaware of it.

Aphrodite wanted to cry. They were so cute together!

Poseidon started snoring.

Apollo watched. "Well?" he asked.

Aphrodite sighed. "Oh, all right." Reluctantly, she leaned forward and shook Athena's arm. The Wisdom goddess didn't budge. "Athena?" Aphrodite said. Still no response. She tried Poseidon, but he only snored louder. "Wake up," she said.

_Zzzzzzz..._

"WAKE UP!" Aphrodite screamed. Athena sat up with a start, accidentally whacking Apollo, and looked around, wild-eyed, like a cornered animal.

"NO! They're taking the city!" she yelled, and looked around. "Oh. Phew."

She let out a sigh of relief. And then realized Poseidon had his arms wrapped around her waist. She blinked, her sleepy mind comprehending her situation. Then the storm came. She slapped him across the face, then elbowed him in the gut, which caused him to release his grip and get kicked across the room. It probably wasn't much of a surprise to anyone (save Apollo) that it woke him up.

"Ow! What just happened? What was that for?" Poseidon grumbled, standing up and trying to ignore the pain in his cheek, stomach, and backside. Athena was glowering at him, that glower he'd gotten when he was caught in her temple with Medusa. He looked around to see if he'd maybe done it again, and looked for the pretty girl he might have brought there as well. There was none. Oh wait, there's Aphrodite.

But nope, he was still locked up.

And Athena was still glaring at him.

He cleared his throat nervously. "Why are you always so aggressive?" he asked. She said nothing, just continued to glower. Poseidon picture steam coming out of her ears. It was such a funny picture, he started to laugh. The others looked at him with baffled expressions. He just continued to giggle, thinking of other funny things best not mentioned, until he heard a loud "ouch! You ruined my hair!"

"Don't you think your hair's already a bit ruined?" Athena pointed out, avoiding the love goddess as she tried to get the pin Athena had just pulled out of her hair. "And anyway, I'm trying to help us get out of here."

Aphrodite pouted, told Athena her hair _always_ looks great ("unlike that rat's nest of yours" "Watch it, Beauty Queen"),and went to sulk in the corner as Athena tried to pick the lock of the door. Apollo settled down against the wall and pulled out his harmonica again.

Ten minutes passed.

"Is it open yet?" Poseidon asked.

"I'm working on it," Athena snapped, moving the pin around in the lock. Poseidon rolled his eyes.

"Can I try?" he said, holding out his hand.

Athena snorted, looking at his determined expression skeptically. "You think you can open it?"

Poseidon just gave her a small smile, sort of a patronizing smile. She shrugged, and gave him the key. He took a peek inside the lock, adjusted and bent the pin around, stuck it in the lock, and moved it around. He kept doing that for a moment, ear pressed to the wood.

Athena sighed impatiently and crossed her arms. "Poseidon, if I can't, you definitely won't be able to-"

Click.

He stood up triumphantly as the door swung open. "Ladies' first," he said sweetly to Athena, who had gone quite red-faced.

"But-you-key-but-" she sputtered, at a loss for words for the first time in about a hundred yeard. Aphrodite squealed happily and skipped out the door, followed by Apollo. Poseidon winked, and followed the other two out, leaving Athena still standing there, very flustered.

* * *

They were in a narrow tunnel, which was lit, like the rest of the hideout, by torches on the walls. The gang made there was out of the prison cell (Poseidon confiscated Apollo's harmonica), and crept along in the direction Poseidon suggested.

The tunnel was too narrow for them to walk sideways, so they had to go in single file, Poseidon in the front, followed by Apollo, Aphrodite, and then Athena bringing up the rear, mumbling incoherent words to herself.

There didn't seem to be anyone around, so they didn't have much trouble getting around, though Poseidon still told them to keep as quiet as possible.

"Where's the exit?" Apollo asked after a while.

"We're not looking for an exit. We're looking for my trident," Poseidon said.

"But I thought we wanted to go?" Apollo said. "I know _I_ wanna go."

"Apollo," said Poseidon in a tone of one speaking to a young child. "We're not leaving my trident here. It's one of the most powerful objects in the universe, next to Zeus's lightning bolt."

"Oh," Apollo said. "I still wanna go home! This is scary."

Aphrodite nodded in agreement. "Where are the bad guys anyway?"

"Good question," Poseidon said. "Hopefully not too close, because I really don't wanna run into them."

"We have to stop them," Athena said suddenly. The other three turned to look at her. "They must be up to something, and Hyperion is supposed to be in Tartarus. As for Oceanus... he kept to himself before. Why did they kidnap you to begin with any, Aphrodite?"

Aphrodite shrugged. "Because I'm pretty?"

Athena looked at her skeptically, unamused.

"I don't know! Why do you always ask me! I'm not bright! You said so yourself!"

"I'm bright!" said Apollo stupedly.

"Not in the way Aphrodite means," Athena said with a snort. Apollo frowned.

"Like, shiny, like, like the sun, right?" he asked. Athena shook her head. He pouted. "Like, beautiful bright?"

"Leave it be, Apollo," Athena said.

Poseidon sighed. "You gotta stop confusing people like that," he told Athena.

Apollo was staring sadly at the wall.

Aphrodite looked down at her toes. "My pedicure was ruined," she told Athena.

"And let me guess," Athena said. "Your manicure, hair, makeup, clothes, and naval were ruined too?"

"Naval?"

"Belly button."

"Oh. Well, you're wrong then. My belly button wasn't ruined."

Athena sighed. "Oops," she mumbled, too tired and annoyed to make more rude remarks.

Aphrodite smiled. "I have the perfect belly button!" she said happily. "And it wasn't ruined even now!"

"Congratulations," Athena said.

Aphrodite lifted her shirt slightly to look at her belly button and make sure it really was okay, while Athena stared at her, mouth hanging open at how strange the love goddess could be.

She closed her eyes, trying to get a moment's rest until Aphrodite came to her senses. Suddenly, something shocked her out of her reverie. "Hey, where are Apollo and Poseidon?"

Aphrodite looked up from her belly button. "They're gone," she said. She opened her mouth to yell their names, but Athena was fast enough to slam her hand over the goddess's mouth before she could give them away.

"Keep quiet!" Athena whispered. Aphrodite nodded obediently, eyes wide, and Athena lowered her hand. "We've got to go-ugh, what's on my hand?"

"Lipstick," Aphrodite replied with a pout.

Athena wiped the makeup off on her jeans (which were torn and filthy anyway), and looked around for the boys. But they were gone. She groaned. "Those idiots!"

Aphrodite gasped. "Someone's coming!"

Athena pulled Aphrodite into the shadow of the tunnel, in a spot where the torches didn't shine any light. A tall, strange looking creature walked passed. It paused nearby, and sniffed the air.

Athena held her breath, barely daring to breathe.

The monster looked around, and made snuffling noises, but then continued to walk down the passage. Both goddesses let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Athena said. "Come on. Let's go see where the boys went. I can't believe those idiots ran off again."

Aphrodite just nodded, and slipped her hand into her half-sister's, scared and in need of the comfort. Athena gave her hand a squeeze, and then slowly started to lead them back down the tunnel, into the unknown. It was cold and silent, and Aphrodite realized how much she liked having Athena as a friend. Athena just smiled at her reassuringly, and they were swallowed by the darkness.

_To be continued..._

**Hmm. I coulda made that longer. Oh well. Sorry. But review! If you do, I might just post faster... in fact, I can practically guarantee I will. Write any old comment. Do you agree with Aphrodite that Athena can do more with your hair? Find Apollo's harmonica music irritating? Depressing? Poseidon and Athena are getting closer, not even aware of it, hmm... (though frankly I think Athena and The Doctor would be a perfect pairing... in fact, what would you think of that for a story?)  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello folks! Took me forever, but here it is, the final chapter. The epilogue should come soon, and if you guys are interested in a sequel or another adventure like this, just let me know. I won't keep you any longer, and hopefully this chapter was good enough to make up for my long absence...**

**CHAPTER NINE:**

They found the two guys in a large cavern, chained to some high-tech looking machinery. It was a strange shaped place, and there was a ledge of sorts, hidden in the shadows, and convenient for the two goddesses to crouch behind and look down at the events happening.

Aphrodite opened her mouth to call the two gods' names and run in, but Athena was faster, throwing her hand over Aphrodite's mouth, and restraining the blonde-haired goddess of love before she could run forward. They hadn't been a moment too soon.

Oceanus and Hyperion walked into the room, and over to the gods.

"Mmmph!" said Aphrodite through Athena's hand.

"Shhh!" Athena hissed.

Oceanus stood triumphantly over Poseidon. "My victory!" he said. "And you will watch your precious world fall."

"What is that thing?" asked Poseidon nervously, looking at the machine.

Oceanus beamed. "It's my special, hi-tech-uh... I don't really know what it does. Not exactly," he admitted.

Apollo gulped. "That's horrible! The world's gonna end!"

"That's the plan, kid," said Hyperion.

"I'm not a kid!" Apollo whined childishly.

Athena sighed inwardly and buried her face in her hands. _Think, think, think! Come on! That's what you do best!_ But she was coming up with a blank.

Aphrodite was staring at the scene before her with wide eyes. "What do we do?" she whispered. The goddess of wisdom looked up helplessly, grey eyes dull and defeated.

"I don't know."

Aphrodite started to cry silently. Athena looked out at the group below and sighed. Then, the two titans started to argue, and a brilliant (Athena never had less than brilliant) idea crossed the goddess's mind.

"Now, we will set this off in the morning!" said Hyperion, beaming. "At the first light of day!"

"Wait, I thought we were going to do it tonight," said Oceanus.

"No," answered Hyperion. "Light. I like light."

"There won't be any first light," Apollo sniffled. "My car drowned."

"Which is your fault," said a voice. Oceanus thought it was Hyperion.

"How is it my fault?" Oceanus snapped.

"How is what your fault?" asked Hyperion confusedly.

"That his car drowned. You wanted them to the island, I got them here!" Oceanus snapped. "I can't do everything!"

"It's not your fault. It was the cost to get them here. Perhaps you can retrieve the wreckage and fix it and I'll drive the sun after we've taken over the world."

"Yeah, and then I can rule over all!" said someone, who Hyperion thought was Oceanus.

"What about me?" said Hyperion.

"What? You can't rule all!" Oceanus said, thinking it was Hyperion who's said it. They paused.

"If you didn't, then who..."

There was a loud sneeze.

They both looked up in that direction.

"Busted," Aphrodite mumbled, looking nervously at Athena who had been disguising her voice in an attempt to get the two titans to fight.

"That probably would have worked if there were more people," Athena grumbled, thinking about her failed plan, and trying to convince herself that was the only reason it failed.

"What's the backup plan? You have one, right?" said Aphrodite.

"I _always_ have a backup plan," Athena stated. "How could you doubt me?"

"So... what's the backup plan?"

"GET THEM!" yelled Oceanus.

Athena smiled sheepishly. "Run?"

Aphrodite's face fell. "I DON'T WANT TO RUN ANYMORE!" she yelled. "IT HURTS MY FEET!"

Oceanus and Hyperion both winced, and Athena squeaked something about her poor ears, clutching the sides of her head.

"Plan C!" yelled Athena. "GERONIMO!" she jumped off the ledge she and Aphrodite had been on, and landed with a thump on Oceanus's machine.

"That looks like it hurt," said Poseidon.

"A bit," Athena mumbled, lying face down and spread eagle on the machine. "I hurt. All over."

"Athena!" Aphrodite yelled. "I'll save you!" she jumped off the ledge.

"OW!" Athena screeched. "Jumping on me didn't save me!"

"But you saved me! Again! Wow, you really are fit to be the goddess of heroes!"

Athena let out a small sob. "But it hurts!" she moaned. The machine sparked, and Athena lifted up her head, glancing at the screen in front of her, reading whatever it was showing.

"Great," she said. "We just set off a volcano, Aphrodite."

"I thought that was Hephy's job?" said Aphrodite, confused, trying to crawl off Athena, but only ended up stepping the goddess of wisdom's stomach, face, and hands. Finally, Aphrodite slipped off the machine, ignoring Athena's grumbling and the strange sound the machine was making from all the buttons she'd accidentally pressed when she was trying to get down.

Athena fell off the machine, head first.

"Ow," she mumbled, voice muffled by the floor in her face. Hyperion hefted her to her feet. She grinned sheepishly.

"Hullo," she said, waving slightly.

"You!" he exclaimed. "Can't you just get lost?"

"Already tried it before. About a couple thousand years ago. Got really depressed when the Romans took over Athens, you know? And-"

"Shut up!" snapped Oceanus. "Can you ever do that?"

Athena looked insulted. "That's rude," she grumped. "Talking is my job, you know. Goddess of wisdom and all that. Not my fault if no one listens. They're all _unwise_."

She ducked when Oceanus let out a furious roar and tried to slap her across the face.

"You're blowing up a volcano," she informed him.

"AAARRRGGGHHHH! YOU STUPID BRAT!" Oceanus yelled.

"I take offense to that," said Athena. "I'm one of the smartest people in the universe. I even outwitted Odin."

"No, it was a tie," said Aphrodite.

"Hmmph," said Athena.

"Little help here?" said Apollo.

Athena ducked behind the machine, and straightened, grinning from ear to ear. "Sounds like a good idea," she said, slinging the Aegis, which she'd found in a pile of treasure, across her back. "Thanks for hanging onto this for me," she said to Oceanus.

The titan glowered at her. There was a rumble.

Athena groaned. "You, Poseidon, all a bunch of hot tempered little kids who like drowning people."

"Hey!" complained Poseidon. "Apollo tricked Artemis into shooting Orion!"

"Now how on earth did he manage that? He can't even tie his own shoelaces!" said Aphrodite.

"I'm still here," said Oceanus, glowering at the group. A whole side of the mountain began to crack, and water poured through.

"Time to go, I think," said Athena.

"We're gonna drown!" moaned Aphrodite. Athena leaned forward and started fiddling with the machine, tongue poking out of her mouth in concentration. Hyperion straightened to his full form, and stepped forward, towering over Athena, his hand glowing as he prepared to strike.

"Duck!" screamed Aphrodite. Athena didn't question her, and threw herself to the ground just as a beam of light hit the machine. It exploded, sending burning metal all over the place. Hyperion cursed in Ancient Greek.

"Free!" said Apollo gleefully. "Hurray!"

He and Poseidon both pulled away from the shackles they had been bound to, and skipped over to the goddesses. Poseidon helped Aphrodite up.

"Now look what you did!" said Athena, looking at the destroyed machine. "You just set the volcano to blow up. Luckily, I managed to confine it just to the island."

"WHAT?!" screamed Poseidon, Aphrodite, Hyperion, Oceanus, and Apollo.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," snapped Athena. "We're all going to Tartarus."

"I'm too good looking to die!" sobbed Apollo, hugging Aphrodite who was also bawling.

"You're crazy!" Oceanus yelled at Athena. The goddess of Wisdom grinned.

"Knowledge does that," she said. "Thanks for the water, by the way."

The titan looked confused. Athena looked at Poseidon. "How 'bout we get out of here, gang? No, not gang, too Scooby Doo sounding-er, companions? No... friends? That just sounds lame." She started muttering to herself. Poseidon grabbed her hand as he realized that, by destroying the machine, his powers were coming back.

Oceanus was screaming at the group, so Poseidon took advantage of the situation to use his water powers. The island was beginning to sink, and the volcano was going to explode any second. Poseidon knew enough science to know what would happen if he managed to get enough water in the lava.

Steam. Steam was good. He grinned.

"EVERYBODY IN THE CAR!"

"What car?" asked Aphrodite.

"That car."

"MY BABY!" said Apollo, hugging his car. "But she's broken. She won't fly!"

"Get in!" Poseidon said.

Hyperion and Oceanus were yelling at each other, so didn't notice the four Olympians hop into Apollo's car. Water poured in, and met the lava.

"This is gonna be good," said Poseidon excitedly.

Athena's eyes lit up. "You're brilliant!" she said.

He beamed. "Why thank you!"

Then, there was boom.

The four screamed as the car was thrown straight up in the geyser, hanging onto each other and the sides of the charred vehicle for dear life (even Athena, who had kept yelling at Apollo they were immortal) They were airborne, and shot straight out of the volcano, and down, towards the ocean.

They landed with a splash, and the waves bore them away, Poseidon whooping at having his powers back, while behind them, with a boom, the volcano exploded, sending hot lava and ash all over the island. They looked back and watched it slowly sink beneath the waves, being dragged down to Tartarus.

There was silence for a bit, as the group exchanged looks. Then, they all started laughing and hugging each other.

"Let's go home," said Athena.

_Epilogue coming soon..._


	10. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE:**

Aphrodite stood quietly in the throne room, fiddling with a red rose, gazing into space. She'd changed out of her tattered clothes, now wearing a floor length red dress, her blonde hair hanging in soft waves down her back.

The soft sound of rubber soles on tile could be heard, and the goddess of love turned around to see Athena standing in the entrance of the council hall, wearing her usual simple clothes, blue jeans, grey tank top, a plaid button up shirt unbuttoned, hands in her pockets.

"Howdy," said Athena cheerfully.

"Hi," Aphrodite replied glumly.

"Why so down?" Athena asked, walking over to her sister.

"This is the worst birthday I ever had," said Aphrodite, and started to cry.

Athena's grey eyes softened. "It's not over yet," she pointed out. "I'm sure the party's still going on."

Aphrodite shook her head. "I don't want to go," she said through her tears. "And Ares ran off with someone."

"He's an idiot, not worth your time," Athena said softly. "I think... I think I know how to cheer you up a bit."

Aphrodite looked up hopefully. "Really?"

Athena nodded, and started going through her pockets. "Where'd I put it?" she muttered, and started pulling out odds and ends. An empty packet of gum, a broken pen, an owl keychain, some unidentifiable substance.

"I think your pockets might be bigger on the inside," said Aphrodite, giving a watery smile.

Athena grinned. "Ah, there's a smile," she said, and seemed to decided she'd found what she was looking for. "Ah ha!"

"What is it?" asked Aphrodite curiously.

Athena grinned, and Aphrodite couldn't think she'd ever seen the usually cool and in control goddess of wisdom so excited. "A little souvenir," she said. "And a late birthday present. I had Hephaestus fix it up, so it's sort of a shared gift from the two of us, though I think he got you something else as well..." Athena looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Anyway," she said, snapping herself out of her thoughts. "Happy birthday, Makeup Brain." She opened her hand, handing Aphrodite a beautiful pendant. It almost looked like molten lava, glowing with it own light, with swirling red and orange colors on it.

"Burnt my fingers picking it up on our way out of the volcano," Athena said cheerfully. "I hope you like it."

"Oh, I do!" said Aphrodite happily, engulfing her sister in a tight hug. Athena just stood stock still for a moment, before awkwardly hugging her back.

They pulled away, Aphrodite beaming. "You're the bestest-"

"Best," said Athena automatically. Aphrodite looked at her pointedly, and she shrugged. "Sorry, continue."

Aphrodite nodded. "I was saying you're the bestest friend ever." She beamed. "Hey, how 'bout it? Best friends forever?"

"Forever's a long time," said Athena uncertainly. "But, um... sure."

"Swear on the Styx?"

"Isn't that a little juvenile?" said Athena.

"Please?"

"Alright. On the Styx."

Thunder rumbled.

Athena rolled her eyes.

"You know," she said thoughtfully. "I think Hephaestus is looking for you. Why don't you spend the rest of the day with him? He really is a nice guy. And I'm sure you can get a bit more from the party."

Aphrodite nodded eagerly, breaking into a ditzy (in Athena's opinion) smile. "Okay!" she skipped off.

Athena shook her head, amused. Maybe Aphrodite wasn't so bad after all.

"Well, if it isn't old Owl Face. What's up, Feather Brain, hiding from the party?"

Poseidon sauntered up to her, grinning mischievously.

Athena shrugged. "Ares was trying to dance with me," she said.

"Ouch," said Poseidon.

Athena stuck her tongue out. "Why aren't you with Dionysus downing massive amounts of alcohol and nectar?"

"Thought I'd keep the lone wolf some company," Poseidon answered easily.

"Hmmph," said Athena. "I _chose_ to be alone, I'll have you know."

"Well, you don't have to always be alone," said Poseidon, leaning forward, his face hovering only inches from hers.

"What are you doing?" she said warily. Poseidon just smiled softly, leaning forward and kissing her on the lips.

There was a moment of silence as he kissed her...

SMACK!

"Ow!" he yelped. She'd just slapped him. "What was that for?" he whimpered.

She gave him the evil eye.

_Things never change,_ he thought with a sigh. He winked.

"Truce, Bird Brain?" he said.

"I don't think so. Not after that stunt, Barnacle Beard." But she was smiling.

"On a strictly platonic level..." said Poseidon. "Will you be my valentine?"

"I don't think it works that way," said Athena. "Still... it'll keep everyone else off my back..."

Poseidon smiled sweetly, and made a bouquet of flowers appear. Athena couldn't help a small smile appearing.

"So, is that how you charm all your ladies?" she said, taking the flowers as Poseidon took her other hand.

"Something like that," he said.

"Oh?"

"But you're a special case." He leaned forward, closing his eyes, ready to kiss her again.

She ducked, out of the way.

"Ha, I bet you told them that too," she said, skipping away, handing him the flowers, whistling _Rocket Man_.

Poseidon watched her go, and grinned.

**THE END.**

**Ta da! That's the end of this story... I couldn't resist that bit of romance there. Take it as you will- whether Athena's in denial, or if it was just a prank on Poseidon's part. I'm not even sure whether I like the Poseidon/Athena pairing...  
**

**Anyway, that's all folks! If you'd like another adventure similar to this, just let me know!**


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